BELGRADE, January 04, 2005 (Beta) - Journalists and photographers from Belgrade media were threatened by an unknown gunman in the suburb of Dedinje on Monday night.

The incident occurred when journalists received information about a robbery in the swank suburb. The haul included ten thousand euros in cash, seven rifles and a revolver. As they arrived at the house a woman emerged:

"We're not home. Don't let it even cross your mind to write about this,don't under any circumstances let us read about this tomorrow in thepapers," she said.

As the group of journalists stood across the road from the house, a man about forty years of age and about 185 cm in height came out of the house brandishing a gun.

"You're dead if this comes out in the papers. What is it, what do you want?Get lost," he shouted at them. The assailant then pointed the gun at the journalists standing across the road from the house.

During the entire incident a police vehicle was parked in front of the house and standing nearby was a man in a security uniform, but neither reacted.

The editorial offices of dailies Glas Javnosti and Kurir have said that they will file charges of endangering the safety and lives of journalists.

PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE NEW ADVERTISING LEGISLATION

BELGRADE, January 04, 2005 (B92) - The Serbian Government's Advertising bill is to be debated under urgent procedure in the parliament's first extraordinary session this year.

The proposed legislation bans the advertising of tobacco and alcoholproducts and limits the length of commercial breaks during series and films.

"The new legislation will control advertising so that films and series willno longer be interrupted by endless commercials," said deputy Serbian trade minister Vlajko Senic.

"Commercials may be screened during a film if it lasts more than 45 minutes.If this is the case, commercials may be aired every 45 minutes. Commercials may also be aired during the half time of a sporting event, during time out and so on. Television films and series may not be artificially interrupted, meaning that advertising will be permitted only between completely independent segments of a program," he added.

The bill also restricts sexually explicit material to print form, andrestricts "hot line" commercials to between midnight and 5.00 a.m.&nbsp; It also stipulates that discounts advertised must actually be available.

"As customers we have often been in a situation where we see that there is an eighty per cent discount, but when you go to the shop you discover that it is ten or fifteen per cent with a single product at eighty per cent. This artificial pressure on consumers, to buy under some better conditions which don't exist, will be absolutely banned and rigorously controlled," said Senic.

The advertising of tobacco and alcohol will be prohibited by thelegislation. Advertising of products such as beer will be permitted between 6.00 p.m. and 6.00 a.m. Advertising beer on billboards close to schools will be banned.

A large number of advertising agencies and broadcasters have described the bill as unacceptable and also complained that there has been no public dialogue on the issue. Instead, they say, the measures should be introduced progressively.

"These prohibitions should be more realistic, more practical, so ourprofession and the advertising industry may be used properly. For example, if we talk about the campaign against consuming tobacco and alcohol, we ought to take part in raising the awareness of the people and changing their attitude, not just pass prohibitions", says Vanda Kucer of the advertising agency McCann-Erickson.

Fines for not complying with the provisions of the Act could reach 5 million dinars. The Advertising Bill will be amended only by members of the parliament as it has not been made available for public debate.

Antic, who is president of the Politika board of management has addressed the prime minister in an open letter, urging him to take the steps necessary to halt the further decline of the paper. He also warned that senior people in the company had illegally taken over the management, adding that the Belgrade District Prosecution had proof of this.

The Milosevic-era CEO of the company expressed concern for the company's thousands of shareholders, saying that the paper was in a decline and that staff had not been paid for months.

"I expect you to take all the steps necessary to prevent this. I am also at the disposal of government bodies," wrote Antic.

Twenty former contracted correspondents of the station, whose contracts expired in December, have demand that the local government make a decision on the broadcaster's future.

The authorities claim that any industrial action or strike in the company is impossible because the station has no fully employed personnel.

Vrbas Municipal Council deputy president Igor Betic said that the status of the company and its employees would be defined this month after a thorough review of the station's registration. He also claimed that today's events represented an attempt to distract the public from the registration review.

The municipal authorities have agreed to present a systematic plan for the company by the end of the week and to begin contracting former contract personnel next week. The remaining journalists will continue their present contractual arrangements.

The station ceased broadcasting on Tuesday when twenty former correspondents whose contracts expired in December demanded that the local government declare its position on the station's continued operation.

DEMAND FOR WIRETAPPING INVESTIGATION

BELGRADE, January 15, 2005 (Glas Javnosti) - The Association of Serbian Journalists has demanded that the appropriate state bodies launch an investigation into the illegal wiretapping of journalists.

The demand follows the information that Glas Javnosti journalist Danica Curuvija was monitored during June, 2001, while interviewing Belgrade lawyer Toma Fila. The association has also expressed doubt about the claim of the Security Intelligence Agency to have stopped wiretapping journalists.

The association's statement also notes that neither the Supreme Court nor the parliament's Security Committee had responded to the case of daily Danas journalist Vuk Cvijic, who was monitored during 2001.

The award was established in 1991 by Grizelj's family and friends and is given for "the highest achievements in investigative journalism indeveloping friendship between peoples and the elimination of borders between nations.

Vasic will receive the award on Friday January 21 in the Belgrade Media Centre.

BELGRADE, January 17, 2005. (Danas) - Celebrated philologist and journalist Branislav Milosevic died in Belgrade yesterday at the age of 58.

Milosevic was born in Belgrade on August 1, 1946. He was noted for his extraordinary intellectual, political and critical articles which he often wrote as a direct participant of turbulent political changes.

He was also a dramatist, with works produced by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre and the Marxist Serbian Centre, as well as a correspondent of the magazines Komunist, Vidici and Student. He was theatre critic for daily Borba and Scena magazine, as well as being director and editor-in-chief of the Rad publishing company.

During 1986 and 1987, Milosevic was Serbia's minister for culture.

After directly confronting the Milosevic regime in the article "A dot tojot" in NIN in 1987, Milosevic became a victim of political purges. Twoyears later he was unemployed. He was a columnist for the Zagreb magazine Danas, Slobodna Dalmacija, Ljubljana Dnevnik, the Belgrade weeklies NIN and Reporter, Nova Politicka Misao and dailies Politika, Blic and Borba.

Milosevic was also director of Borba in the early 1990s and was a founder, director and columnist of Nasa Borba.

He was presenter of the Radio Television Serbia program Fridays at 10.00 p.m. and was Strasbourg and Berlin correspondent for SENSE news agency. He also published columns in the Belgian magazine Knack, the Independent in Britain, the French Figaro and others.

Milosevic published a collection of his polemic and critical articles, TheFirst Ten Years as a review of events from 1986 to 1999. He leaves anunfinished manuscript for a second book, Another Ten Years.

**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole responsibilityof ANEM**

BELGRADE, January 20, 2005 (B92, Beta) - The Independent Association ofSerbian Journalists said today that Serbia media are still operating under pressure from all sides.

Media Files editor Dragutin Roknic says that pressure comes in all forms, from threats of physical violence, through legal proceedings against journalists to wiretapping.

Members of the association say that journalists are most frequently under attacks from criminals, politicians and "new businessmen". Of particular concern over the past six months has been the number of threats to journalists over articles about Hague Tribunal suspects.

Roknic also notes that it is not always easy for journalists to beobjective, adding that issues are often analysed in one political party but overlooked in others, which he describes as a corruption of the ideals and integrity of journalists.

Association president Nebojsa Bugarinovic said, however, that there is no indication that pressure has increased over the past six months, but that it has certainly not decreased.

Novine Vranjske proprietor and editor, Vukasic Obradovic said that there is a serious problem for local newspapers because of the level of control exercised by local authorities. He believes that it is important to privatise such newspapers and magazines as soon as possible.

Members of the association have presented a code of behaviour forjournalists, which defines the obligations to protect professionalstandards, to protect the principles of freedom of information and the right to information, and to fight for the freedom to demand, receive anddistribute information. The principles of the code stipulate thatjournalists are obliged to present factual, verified, unabridged andappropriate information. They are also obliged to state sources but notexpose them.

Journalists additionally have an obligation to fight against themanipulation of information and censorship and to correct damaginginaccurate facts. They are also required to refrain from publishinginformation which damages the riht to privacy. The code also stipulates that journalists should refuse perquisites which could affect the independence of their work and must avoid the use of ethnic, racial or religious descriptions for the purpose of discrimination.

Bugarinovic, noting that the code is not binding, said that there must be a single code of behaviour for all journalists associations in order forethical standards to become obligatory.

CONVICTED TWICE OVER ONE ARTICLE

KIKINDA, January 20, 2005 (Danas) - The Kikinda Municipal Court has upheld a complaint by Belgrade historian Jovan Pejin against the public media company Information Centre Kikinda and Zeljko Bodrozic, editor of weekly Kikindske, and ordered payment of 120,000 dinars (about 1,250 euros) in court costs.

Pejin, a former director of Serbia's state archives, laid the complaintagainst Bodrozic over an article published in Kikindske on October 3, 2004, under the headline "Fascist speaking". The article discussed a TV Novi Sad program, Unbuttoned, in which Pejin appeared as a guest to discuss his book "Autonomous Vojvodina - a nightmare for the Serbian people".

Bodrozic has already been convicted a previous time by a court in Zrenjanin for the same article. On that occasion he was ordered to pay 15,000 dinars in damages for libel and insult and 20,000 dinars in court costs.

He told Belgrade daily Danas that neither of the courts had allowed him to present evidence in the form of articles by Pejin from the Kikinda newspaper "Komuna" which liberally insulted advocates of autonomy, the Otpor movement and other opponents of the Milosevic regime.

NO RESOURCES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION ACT

BELGRADE, January 22, 2005 (Danas) - Serbia's new information commissioner, Rodoljub Sabic, says that he has not been provided with the basic resources to begin implementing the Free Access to Information Act. Implementation of the act was hindered, he said, by a number of people whose interests were threatened by free access to information.

Veselin Simonovic, the editor-in-chief of Belgrade daily Blic, commented that the authorities had never displayed sensitivity in terms of their social accountability.&nbsp;

The deputy mayor of Kragujevac, Sasa Milenic, also commented on the situation, saying that his municipality would soon begin implementing the legislation.

Slobodan Beljanski, the chairman of the Chamber of Law of Vojvodina,proposed that those who have not been implementing the act should be brought to justice.

**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole responsibilityof ANEM**

The IFJ will this year launch a campaign to assist its affiliates with securing freedom of speech by encouraging governments to abandon criminal libel laws. IFJ Asia is establishing an online defamation working group to develop resources on defamation, including:

&Oslash;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; removal of defamation from criminalstatues and abolition of insult laws.

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In preparation, we are asking IFJ affiliates to nominate committee members to participate in an Internet discussion forum on these topics.

&nbsp;

As background, a number of countrieshave abolished criminal defamation laws, either partiallyor completely the last couple of years. In oneencouraging move, Sri Lanka’s Parliament unanimously decided to abolish criminal defamation laws.

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Also, Ghana has improved freedom of speech by beginning the process to repeal criminal libel laws. In addition, Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, Ireland, Kenya, Moldova, Paraguay, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine are on the positive list of abandoning criminal libel laws. A few other countries - including France and Bulgaria - have abolished the possibility of imprisonment for defamation.

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Primarily, it has been European nations, which have abolished prison sentences for defamation. In order for the nations to qualify for membership of the European Union, they need to apply international human rights to national law.

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Unfortunately, other nations had little incentive to abolish criminal libel laws. Both the African and Asian regions have a number of countries that disregard Article 19 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of freedom of expression. The fight against oppression is an ongoing process and the list of nations, which apply criminal defamation laws to curb the press, is still long.

&nbsp;We hope you will be able to participate in this important project. To nominate a representative, please email ifj@ifj-asia.org. We are particularly interested in representatives who have experience in: campaigns to fight criminal defamation or insult laws and effective alternative mechanisms for dealing with complaints against the media. Please nominate a representative by Friday 28 January2005.

The aftermath of the tsunami tragedy in Aceh provides a “golden opportunity for solidarity, peace and press freedom” says the International Federation of Journalists, which is visting Indonesia in support of media satff affected by the disaster.

&nbsp;Speaking at a press conference in Jakarta today, Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ, the world’s largest journalists’group, said journalists around the world had shown unprecedented solidarity with colleagues in Indonesia and other areas.

&nbsp;“Almost 100,000 US dollars has been donated to our special appeal for journalists and&nbsp; media staff affected and their families,” said White. “It is a magnificent show of sympathy and goodwill.”

&nbsp;White presented its Indonesian affiliate, the Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI) with 30,000$ US for immediate humanitarian assistance to Aceh media staff. About 20,000 $US had been sent in the first week after the disaster.

&nbsp;White said that the positive power of the world’s media had been shown at its best in coverage of the Aceh disaster. “Dramatic, emotional and highly professional reporting of the tragedy has provoked global solidarity in levels never seen before,” he said. “Now it is the responsibility of the government to take advantage of this goodwill and seize what is a golden opportunity for solidarity, peace and press freedom.”

&nbsp;He said that talk of controls over the movement of journalists and others should be abandoned and efforts to find a negotiated solution to the dispute in the region should be stepped up after decades of simmering conflict.

&nbsp;“The world has woken up to the reality of life in Aceh and this provides a chance for peace and renewal,” he said. “It also is an opportuntiy to put press fredeom and rights of media at the heart of future strategies in the region.” Last year the IFJ negotiated with GAM officials in Sweden as part of the successful effort involving AJI to free Fery Santoro, the television journalist held hostage in Aceh.

&nbsp;White said the IFJ has signed a project contract with AJI for trade union development over the next three years. “We want to work closely with AJI to help strengthen the rights of journalists in Indonesia,” he said. “We are supporting immediate efforts to rebuild the AJI structure for media support in Aceh.”

&nbsp;The IFJ says that support for its disaster appeal, which is also providing help for journalists and media staff in Sri Lanka and other countries affected, had come directly from journalists’ unions in Australia, Greece, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Slovakia, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Malta, Croatia, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Thailand.&nbsp;

2004 – A Dark and Deadly Year for Media: Governments Must Act says IFJ

&nbsp;After one of the worst years on record for the killing of journalists, the International Federation of Journalists today launched its annual report on media deaths with a renewed call for the United States and other governments to take seriously their responsibility to investigate media killings.

&nbsp;“Too often governments display a heartless and cruel indifference to the suffering endured by the victims and their families,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “Too often so-called investigations into the killings of our colleagues are merely a whitewashing exercise.”

&nbsp;The IFJ, which today said 129 journalists and media employee were killed last year, the worst 12-month toll on record.

&nbsp;“Behind each tragic death is a story of widespread intimidation and violence against journalists being carried out on a scale never seen before,” said White. “We honour each of those who have died, from the dedicated and courageous correspondents to the support staff who make up the media team.”

&nbsp;In a wide-ranging report that covers media deaths in 34 countries, the IFJ has attacked the impunity and injustice in the way governments respond to media deaths.

&nbsp;“There tends to be a few meaningless words of regret, a cursory inquiry and a shrug of indifference,” said White. “It is inexcusable in an age when the world relies more than ever on media to tell the story that many governments fail to bring the killers of journalists to justice or excuse themselves when their own people are involved.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;The IFJ says that the investigation by the US government into the killing of two journalists at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on April 8 2003, which was issued last November, was a tragic example. “Here was an incident where soldiers fired on media in broad daylight, yet the military exonerate themselves and fail to take responsibility. It is denial of justice on a shocking scale.”

&nbsp;The IFJ says that the unexplained killing of media staff and journalists in Iraq, involving 12 of the 69 violent deaths since the war began, shows why new international rules are needed to force independent investigations of media killings. The Federation plans a worldwide protest over the failure of the US to carry out such inquiries on April 8th – the second anniversary of the Palestine Hotel attack.

&nbsp;The IFJ report also highlights a similar ambivalence among political leaders in the Ukraine where the Federation has been pressing the authorities to come clean over the case of murdered journalist Gyorgy Gongadze brutally murdered more than four years ago by anonymous killers linked to the authorities in the Ukraine.&nbsp;

&nbsp;The IFJ report, which carries a special focus on how the Asian Tsunami disaster hit media in the affected areas, also criticises the government of the Philippines, where 13 journalists died last year. There were only two serious investigations and these failed to lead to any prosecutions. The IFJ further criticised official proposals from Manila to arm journalists in a bid to counter the targeting of reporters, particular those working for local radio.

&nbsp;“It is a sorry tale of incompetence and lack of political will, made worse by the absurd notion that journalists can only protect themselves by taking up guns,” said White. “This is precisely the sort of abdication of governmental responsibility that will only make life even more dangerous for journalists.”

&nbsp;Despite graphic evidence of a deteriorating situation for journalists in many areas, the IFJ also provides some evidence of a new determination within media and journalism to confront the crisis.

&nbsp;Almost 30,000 Euro has been donated from the IFJ’s International Safety Fund to the victims of violence and their families. “This is real solidarity from journalist to journalist and we are going to need much more of it in the years to come,” said White.

&nbsp;The IFJ also welcomed the news that, at the year’s end, the International Safety Institute opened up safety offices in Latin America and Africa with new offices to open in Asia and the Middle East before the end of the month.

&nbsp;“The INSI is a response from within the media industry to the safety crisis,” said White. “It is a practical and determined effort involving media organisations and employees to reduce the risks we face and to put pressure on governments to deliver on their responsibilities. Every journalists’ union and every media employer should add their weight to this effort.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;For further information please contact +32 2 235 22 07

The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 110 countries

IFJ Backs Japan Union Demand For Head of Scandal-Hit Broadcaster NHK To Quit

The International Federation of Journalists is backing a high-profile campaign by workers at Japan’s public broadcasting station NHK who are calling for the resignation of the company president after a series of corruption scandals that have shocked viewers and led to a damaging loss of public support.

Unless Mr Katsuji Ebisawa, the President, stands down the union warns that NHK income this year could fall by up to 100,000,000 US Dollars, as thousands of subscribers refuse to renew their NHK contracts. But Ebisawa is refusing to go and has angered journalists and other NHK workers by dismissing the 113,000 NHK viewers who have refused to pay their license fee over the scandals up to November by saying the “This figure cannot be interpreted as definite non-payment.” On their side the unions say the public boycott of the station is disastrous.

“The credibility and integrity of one of the world’s leading public broadcasters is at stake,” said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White in a letter to the company’s board of directors. “Someone must take responsibility and NHK must act to restore public confidence.”

Scandals at the station broke last year when after press coverage of accounting dishonesty by an NHK producer who embezzled around 350,000 Euro. Further corruption was exposed and the crisis was discussed by a Parliamentary committee responsible for Public Management, Home Affairs, Post and Telecommunications in September.

Further controversy engulfed the station when NHK refused to televise the parliamentary hearing live and produced an edited version of the discussions further enraging viewers and many of the company’s journalists and workers. Full coverage of the hearing was only provided by a commercial broadcaster.

The events provoked massive protests from NHK viewers many of them convinced the company was covering up the truth about its problems. Falling subscriptions is a real loss to the public broadcaster because broadcast law in Japan does not force the public to pay a licence fee. The spirit of the law is based on is mutual understanding between viewers and NHK. Further cancellations will threaten the financial future of NHK.

The IFJ-affiliated company union Nipporo, which represent all groups of workers at the station, says that the President should resign immediately. The Union has launched a national campaign seeking public support and plans to lobby parliamentarians over NHK’s budget and operation report when it comes before the National Diet in March. If the budget is rejected Ebisawa will have no choice but to stand down.

“We fully support our colleagues at NHK,” said White. “They rightly demand that this disgraced leader must resign and that NHK must act to restore the station’s reputation as a public service broadcaster.”

On behalf of the International Federation of Journalists, the world’s largest journalists’ group, I write to express our profound concern over recent events at NHK.

The public exposure of internal scandals at NHK has damaged public confidence in the station and we are surprised that, after many months of controversy, Mr Katsuji Ebisawa the President has failed to recognise adequately the perilous conditions facing the company.

We believe that the credibility and integrity of NHK, one of the world’s leading public broadcasters is at stake. Like our colleagues in the membership of Nipporo, someone must take responsibility for the mistakes that have been made and the NHK Board of Governors must act to restore public confidence.

We support, therefore, the call by Nipporo for the resignation of Mr Ebisawa. We are convinced that this is essential to recover public support and to improve the morale of all of those working for the company.

As you may know the IFJ campaigns world-wide for genuine public broadcasting and we are dismayed at events at NHK which, until these difficult days, has been a model of a pluralist, professional and high-quality service.

When we see the impact on public opinion after recent scandals we are deeply concerned at the failure to confront the damaging loss of public support which, unless urgently dealt with, could jeapordise the financial future of the station. Indeed, I have been personally surprised at the public complacency displayed by management over the recent crisis.

On his web site, Mr Katsuji Ebisawa says that the loss of 113,000 NHK viewers who are refusing to pay or withholding payment of the license fee on account of the corruption scandals as of the end of November “cannot be interpreted as definite non-payment.” In any other responsible body such a staggering loss of public support would be properly acknowledged.

The IFJ believes that broadcasters have a responsibility to ensure that their actions are transparent, that they provide full disclosure and that they demonstrate high standards of professionalism in administration. However, we note the concerns expressed by Nipporo that NHK has not acted in line with these standards in dealing with the events of recent months.

Last year you will recall that senior officers of the BBC resigned in quite different circumstances and which, in the end, we believe did not justify their resignation. Even so, these resignations did demonstrate an honourable level of corporate and collective responsibility.

It is frankly astonishing that at NHK, where serious errors have been made and admitted, that the senior management of the station, after apologising, has not taken responsibility and acted accordingly. As a result, public service values in broadcasting are undermined.

Could I ask you to pass on the concern of the IFJ and its member organisations about this matter and I reiterate our full support for the colleagues of Nipporo at NHK who rightly demand a public demonstration of NHK’s determination to restore NHK’s deserved reputation as a public service broadcaster.